Peninsula's Judicial Lineup Changing

Ascent To Bench Has Askew Elated

NEWPORT NEWS — A year and a half ago, Newport News City Attorney Verbena Askew said that while she enjoyed navigating the maze of municipal law, she wished she could spend more time in the courtroom.

She better have meant it.

Askew was appointed Saturday to fill an open spot on the Newport News Circuit Court. When she formally takes her seat, she'll be the first black woman to hold a judgeship on the state's primary criminal trial bench.

"I was elated by the news," she said Monday. "I've been considering this for a couple years now."

Askew has been the city's top attorney since April 1988. She said she decided to pursue the judgeship because she saw it as a way to shape the public's attitude toward the justice system. By being a judge, she said, she could assure people "that the legal process is there to work for everybody."

Askew said she'll likely start her new job after a month or so, leaving the City Council searching for a replacement. One possibility, said Newport News Mayor Barry Duval, is for the council to appoint an interim city attorney. That would give council members the four to six months needed to conduct a search, he said.

Vice Mayor Marty Williams and Councilman Joe Frank said the hunt will also let them review the role of the city attorney's office. Such a review, said Williams, might include looking at whether the office has become too big and whether more litigation could be handled by outside firms.

Monday, several council members praised Askew, saying she was "extremely fair" and "very intelligent."

But her tenure has not been without friction.

She got the job on a 4-3 vote that split along party lines - Democrats supported her, Republicans did not - and since then, she has had occasional, and sometimes public, run-ins with the council even as its members have changed.

Several months ago, council members chose not to give Askew a raise after completing her job evaluation, and some concerns seem to linger. Asked to assess Askew's performance, Frank said, "I'm not going to get into that."

She now makes just over $81,000 a year. She will make almost $97,500 annually.

But overall, said Frank's colleagues, Askew has performed well. Despite the disputes, said Williams, "we agree 98 percent of the time."

Askew acknowledges that some people will say her elevation to a judgeship is the product of race and gender politics - the candidate she beat out, Edward L. Hubbard, was endorsed by the local bar association and had more than four years experience as a district judge - but she says the legislature simply appointed "the right person to the right position."

It's a fortunate coincidence, she said, that the right person will also increase diversity among Virginia's judges.